http://hdl.handle.net/11089/9528 2026-04-05T16:46:22Z http://hdl.handle.net/11089/9563 Sociolinguistic Conditioning of Phonetic Category Realisation in Non-Native Speech Waniek-Klimczak, Ewa The realisation of phonetic categories reflects a complex relationship between individual phonetic parameters and both linguistic and extra-linguistic conditioning of language usage. The present paper investigates the effect of selected socio-linguistic variables, such as the age, the amount of language use and cultural/social distance in English used by Polish immigrants to the U.S. Individual parameters used in the realisation of the category ‘voice’ have been found to vary in their sensitivity to extra-linguistic factors: while the production of target-like values of all parameters is related to the age, it is the closure duration that is most stable in the correspondence to the age and level of language proficiency. The VOT and vowel duration, on the other hand, prove to be more sensitive to the amount of language use and attitudinal factors. 2009-12-23T00:00:00Z http://hdl.handle.net/11089/9562 English Centering Diphthong Production By Polish Learners of English Balas, Anna The paper shows how British English centering diphthongs are adapted to the vowel space of Polish learners of English. The goal is to focus on complex vowels and the interaction of qualitative and quantitative features. Acoustic analysis revealed various processes used to overcome pronunciation difficulties: /j/ and /w/ breaking, /r/ insertion, substitutions of other vocalic qualities, changes in diphthong duration and diphthong phases duration, and changes in the rate of frequency change. 2009-12-23T00:00:00Z http://hdl.handle.net/11089/9561 Models and Targets for the Pronunciation of English in Vietnam and Sweden Cunningham, Una This paper aims to account for the factors that lie behind the choice of models and targets for the pronunciation of English by learners of English in Vietnam and in Sweden. English is the first foreign language in both Vietnam and in Sweden. English is used as a language of international communication in both settings. Swedish learners have much more exposure to spoken English than do Vietnamese learners and the Swedish language is more similar to English than is Vietnamese. These reasons, among others, explain why Swedish accents of English are typically considerably more intelligible than Vietnamese accents of English. Given that the majority of English speakers in the world are not native speakers, it is argued that the traditional learner target of approaching native speaker pronunciations is not appropriate for either group, but especially not for the Vietnamese learners. Instead maximal international intelligibility is a more useful target. To this end, learners need to be exposed to a variety of native and non-native models. 2009-12-23T00:00:00Z http://hdl.handle.net/11089/9560 Musical Intelligence and Foreign Language Learning Zybert, Jerzy; Stępień, Sabina The article discusses the potential advantage that musically gifted FL learners have in developing the speaking skill, especially in acquiring some prosodic features. Empirical findings are provided to support the assumption. 2009-12-23T00:00:00Z